AMD wants to change the way we buy PCs

by Scott Bicheno on 10 September 2009, 05:00

Tags: AMD (NYSE:AMD)

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Sexy PCs

We got a chance to have a one-on-one chat with Sobon after her presentation and, after praising the wisdom of the New England Patriots in getting a first round draft pick for 30 year old defensive lineman, she was keen to expand on the concept of the PC as a consumer electronics device.

We agreed that Apple has long set the standard for marketing PCs and has the profits to show for it. But it's not just high-end products that can be made stylish - Sobon even confided that she thinks desktops are sexy!

The rise and evolution of the netbook segment over the past year or so, albeit with AMD as just an interested observer, has shown that, regardless of price point, people expect their mobile products to look good, especially since many consider them an intrinsic part of their image. "Notebooks are all about appearance," said Sobon.

With that in mind, AMD looks like it's going to make a really big push behind its second generation thin-and-light platform, as indicated by the slide below. As ever with AMD, there will be concerns, internally and externally, that AMD has the resources to make the kind of noise it needs to with these initiatives.

 

 

In summary, what AMD is trying to do is reminiscent of Packard Bell's rebrand under Acer ownership. Yes, there's a lot of marketing speak and vague brand associations, and red, but if either of them have any success in persuading consumers to chose a notebook based on how it looks and what it can do, rather than the clock speed of its CPU, then they'll be happy.

 



HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Well it's about time AMD took this market seriously. The one thing that will almost certainly bother me is that they'll end up dropping detailed specs (which perhaps Joe Public is better off not seeing).
Bose argue that for their speakers, you don't need to know the power rating and other specifications - what's important is the sound. To a large degree, they're right about that. However, in the fast-moving world of PC electronics where everybody is an expert (!), most people will tend to buy based on the hardware and the reviews.
Anyway, good read, thanks for that. :)

Roo
This is a good read indeed. Good to see AMD throwing some new ideas at marketing in a field where thery have gained alot of ground. Wonder if they will do the same for the chipset / GPU market soon.
I'm keen to see how AMD gets around the ever-changing goalposts that define PC's characteristics. For example, what is ‘Vision Premium’ today will become ‘Vision Basic’ tomorrow as standards are raised by incrementally better hardware.

Still, hats off to AMD for trying to simply a segment that's rife with confusion, especially if it catalyses a move from leader Intel.
Tarinder
I'm keen to see how AMD gets around the ever-changing goalposts that define PC's characteristics. For example, what is ‘Vision Premium’ today will become ‘Vision Basic’ tomorrow as standards are raised by incrementally better hardware.

Still, hats off to AMD for trying to simply a segment that's rife with confusion, especially if it catalyses a move from leader Intel.

In theory, the idea of a brand like this is that as long as you purchase something to that year's definition, it does what it says it does. Instead of the consumer worrying about whether their Q6600 is enough for the job, you put a sticker on it that says “good for a Vision Basic 2009 system”. Then, as generations roll on, you either stop putting the stickers on the older stock, or you stick to the year's defintion (so a chip might get relabelled Vision Basic 2010, or stick with Vision Basic 2009 if it's no longer up to scratch)